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Accessibility and Intraurban Travel

Author

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  • S Hanson
  • M Schwab

Abstract

This paper contains an examination of the fundamental assumption underlying the use of accessibility indicators: that an individual's travel behavior is related to his or her location vis-à -vis the distribution of potential activity sites. First, the conceptual and measurement issues surrounding accessibility and its relationship to travel are reviewed; then, an access measure for individuals is formulated. Using data from the Uppsala (Sweden) Household Travel Survey and controlling for sex, automobile availability, and employment status, the authors explore the relationship between both home- and work-based accessibility and five aspects of an individual's travel: mode use, trip frequencies and travel distances for discretionary purposes, trip complexity, travel in conjunction with the journey to work, and size of the activity space. From the results it can be seen that although all of these travel characteristics are related to accessibility to some degree, the travel–accessibility relationship is not as strong as deductive formulations have implied. High accessibility levels are associated with higher proportions of travel by nonmotorized means, lower levels of automobile use, reduced travel distances for certain discretionary trip purposes, and smaller individual activity spaces. Furthermore, the density of activity sites around the workplace affects the distances travelled by employed people for discretionary purposes. Overall, accessibility level has a greater impact on mode use and travel distance than it does on discretionary trip frequency. This result was unexpected in light of the strong trip frequency–accessibility relationship posited frequently in the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • S Hanson & M Schwab, 1987. "Accessibility and Intraurban Travel," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 19(6), pages 735-748, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:19:y:1987:i:6:p:735-748
    DOI: 10.1068/a190735
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    Cited by:

    1. Sallis, James F. & Frank, Lawrence D. & Saelens, Brian E. & Kraft, M. Katherine, 2004. "Active transportation and physical activity: opportunities for collaboration on transportation and public health research," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 249-268, May.
    2. Lättman, Katrin & Olsson, Lars E. & Friman, Margareta, 2018. "A new approach to accessibility – Examining perceived accessibility in contrast to objectively measured accessibility in daily travel," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 501-511.
    3. Wong, Sandy, 2018. "The limitations of using activity space measurements for representing the mobilities of individuals with visual impairment: A mixed methods case study in the San Francisco Bay Area," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 300-308.
    4. Sweet, Matthias N., 2014. "Do firms flee traffic congestion?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 40-49.
    5. Schwanen, Tim & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2005. "What Affects Commute Mode Choice: Neighborhood Physical Structure or Preferences Toward Neighborhoods?," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt4nq9r1c9, University of California Transportation Center.
    6. Hasnine, Md Sami & Graovac, Ana & Camargo, Felipe & Habib, Khandker Nurul, 2019. "A random utility maximization (RUM) based measure of accessibility to transit: Accurate capturing of the first-mile issue in urban transit," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 313-320.
    7. Kiril Stanilov, 2003. "Accessibility and Land Use: The Case of Suburban Seattle, 1960-1990," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(8), pages 783-794.
    8. Louis Merlin, 2015. "Can the built environment influence nonwork activity participation? An analysis with national data," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 369-387, March.
    9. Crane, Randall & Crepeau, Richard, 1998. "Does Neighborhood Design Influence Travel?: Behavioral Analysis of Travel Diary and GIS Data," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt4pj4s7t8, University of California Transportation Center.
    10. Reilly, Michael & Landis, John, 2003. "The Influence of Built-Form and Land Use on Mode Choice," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt46r3k871, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Andrew R. Watkins, 2016. "Commuting Flows and Labour Market Structure: Modelling Journey to Work Behaviour in an Urban Environment," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 612-630, December.
    12. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2020. "Planning transport for social inclusion: An accessibility-activity participation approach," SocArXiv ap7wh, Center for Open Science.
    13. Ruben Cordera & Pierluigi Coppola & Luigi dell’Olio & Ángel Ibeas, 2017. "Is accessibility relevant in trip generation? Modelling the interaction between trip generation and accessibility taking into account spatial effects," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(6), pages 1577-1603, November.
    14. Tijs Neutens, 2012. "Accessibility to public service delivery: a combination of diff erent indicators," Chapters, in: Karst T. Geurs & Kevin J. Krizek & Aura Reggiani (ed.), Accessibility Analysis and Transport Planning, chapter 7, pages 118-132, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Thirayoot Limanond & Debbie Niemeier, 2004. "Effect of land use on decisions of shopping tour generation: A case study of three traditional neighborhoods in WA," Transportation, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 153-181, May.
    16. Iacono, Michael & Krizek, Kevin J. & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2010. "Measuring non-motorized accessibility: issues, alternatives, and execution," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 133-140.
    17. Crane, Randall, 1995. "On Form Versus Function: Will the "New Urbanism" Reduce Traffic or Increase It?," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7bj9g6bg, University of California Transportation Center.
    18. Merlin, Louis A. & Hu, Lingqian, 2017. "Does competition matter in measures of job accessibility? Explaining employment in Los Angeles," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 77-88.
    19. Jinhyun Hong & Qing Shen & Lei Zhang, 2014. "How do built-environment factors affect travel behavior? A spatial analysis at different geographic scales," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 419-440, May.
    20. Jinjoo Bok & Youngsang Kwon, 2016. "Comparable Measures of Accessibility to Public Transport Using the General Transit Feed Specification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-13, March.
    21. Giuliano, Genevieve, 2003. "Travel, location and race/ethnicity," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 351-372, May.

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